Pietro Consagra's Seven Sculptures Confront Baroque Sacred Space in Matera

Nearly fifty years after first exhibiting in Matera's Sassi districts, Pietro Consagra (1920-2005) returns to the city with a new exhibition, 'Pietro Consagra. Sette sculture,' held in the Chiesa del Purgatorio. Organized by Galleria Alessandro Albanese and curated by Giorgio Verzotti, the show presents seven sculptures from the artist's Bifrontali, Preminenze, and Interferenze cycles. Consagra's radically two-dimensional works create a dialogue of contrasts with the vertical, ornate Baroque architecture, challenging the sacred space and altering how visitors move through and perceive the church. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog published by La Stamperia Edizioni-Matera, which includes documentation from the 1978 exhibition and the artist's 'Lettera ai materani.' The project is supported by the Fondazione Zétema, MUSMA – Museo della Scultura Contemporanea, and the Comune di Matera. Consagra's work, which renounces depth and embraces frontality, engages in a direct confrontation with the viewer, a relationship that is redefined within the church's spatial dynamics. The show runs until September 27, 2026, at the Chiesa del Purgatorio, Via Domenico Ridola, 45.